lionkingfandomcom-20200223-history
Mufasa/Main article
Mufasa is the king of The Pridelands at the start of The Lion King. He is the father of Simba and the older brother of Scar. Physical Attributes Mufasa is a large, powerful lion. He is extremely muscular and has a thick red mane, golden-brown fur, and reddish-brown eyes. As the alpha lion he is very powerful physically and skilled in fighting. His younger brother, Scar, appears at two different points in The Lion King to be unwilling and even afraid to face him in a fair fight. Personality Mufasa is a wise, noble and very powerful king. Although he carries himself with the grace and nobility expected of a king, he is shown to have a healthy sense of humor, as he is able to chuckle when Zazu suggests turning Scar into a throw rug after the latter blatantly insults Mufasa and his son, Simba. And when Simba pounced on Zazu during the "The Morning Report", Mufasa bursts out laughing, and continues to laugh until the end of Simba's singing line. Mufasa is fiercely protective of his pride, especially Simba, as is shown in both his fury when he saves his son and Nala from the hyenas and in his willingness to die so that his son might survive the wildebeest stampede orchestrated by Scar. He appears not to have noticed the depth of Scar's treachery until the latter murders him in cold blood, though this may simply be because he is unwilling to see such darkness within one of his own family members. Mufasa also had a special unbreakable bond with Simba, Mufasa presumingly taught Simba everything he knows, and the two sometimes even play wrestle together, as shown in the movie. Information The Lion King A large powerful male lion, Mufasa is the king of the Pridelands at the beginning of the film. He is the father of Simba, the mate of Sarabi, the older brother of Scar, and the Firstborn of Ahadi and Uru. He is wise and caring, often portrayed as the ideal king and wishes to pass those traits down to his son. When the hyenas are about to catch and kill Nala and Simba, Mufasa roars and engages the hyenas in a mainly one sided battle, pinning them down and warning them never to come near Simba again. Mufasa tells Simba about the great kings of the past after saving him and Nala from the Hyenas. Since Scar's first plan fails, he and the hyenas come up with a new plan: to cause a wildebeest stampede to kill Mufasa and Simba, but the plan fails to kill Simba, Scar tells Simba to run away and never return, then orders the hyenas to kill him. Scar executes his plan by leading Simba into a vast gorge with the promise his father has a "marvelous surprise" for him. He leaves signaling to the hyenas to chase a large herd of wildebeeste into the gorge. When Simba is caught in the stampede, a dramatic Scar alerts Mufasa who rushes to save his son. Mufasa fights his way through the stampede and places his son on top of a ledge but he is carried back into the stampede. Mufasa tries to save himself by jumping onto the ledge of a cliff and climbing up but his brother Scar who is waiting for him at the top kills him by piercing his paws hard with his claws, taunting him with a "long live the king", and then throwing Mufasa back into the stampede; to his death. As he lets go, he flings Mufasa away from the cliff, causing him to fall to his death. And thus the powerful King is killed by his sly brother. His lifeless body was discovered by Simba after seeing his father's fall. Mufasa is seen again when Rafiki explains to Simba that 'He lives in you'. His spirit is seen in the clouds and tells Simba that he must take his place in the Circle of Life as he is the one true king; that Simba must always remember that he is Mufasa's son and that he is more than what he has become Also, right before Simba claims his kingship, Mufasa can be heard saying "Remember". The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Mufasa only makes two visual appearances in Simba's Pride. Once, his spirit is seen watching over Kiara's presentation with the song, "He Lives in You", attributing to him. Second, Mufasa is seen in Simba's nightmare which is a re-imagining of his own death scene. Mufasa is crying for his son's help so he won't fall into the wildebeest stampede below. However, Simba is stopped by Scar who pierces his paw with his claws while his other paw is unable to reach his father's paw. Unable to hang on any later, Mufasa falls. In the film, he tells his old friend Rafiki through the wind about his plan to make Kiara and Kovu fall in love with each other. He is also mentioned during the exile of Kovu, where Kiara yells at Simba "You will never be Mufasa!", possibly referring to the fact, in Kiara's eyes, Mufasa may have forgiven Kovu and seen the ambush was not his fault. Simba is taken aback and, most likely, hurt by the statement for a moment, suggesting he had been trying to live up to the "greatness" Mufasa had achieved in his time as ruler of the Pridelands. At the end of Simba's Pride, he says, "Well done, my son. We are one." toward Simba praising his son's wisdom and leadership as king. The Lion King 1½ In The Lion King 1½, Mufasa makes a few non-speaking appearances to which he is present in the original film. First, he is seen during Simba's presentation and grins when Zazu tells him how the animals are kneeling before his newborn son. Second, his roar friengthens Timon and Pumbaa while he is racing with Zazu to save Simba and Nala from the hyenas. Finally, he forms as a spirit from clouds to which Timon mistakens as bad weather. Other Roles The Lion King (musical) Mufasa's role is much larger in the musical than in the first film. Mufasa is given new songs to sing such as "The Morning Report" and "They Live in You" to which he tells young Simba about the Great Kings of the Past who are watching over them from the stars. There is also an scene in which Mufasa tells Zazu about Simba's daring behavior. Zazu then reminds him on his early years as a young cub. In the song "He Lives in You", Mufasa apeared as a ghost and tells Simba to go back to the Pridelands. Finally, Mufasa says "REMEMBER!" before Simba roars as the new king of his kingdom. Kingdom Hearts II Mufasa can be seen in The Pridelands world in the Kingdom Hearts game. By the time Sora and co. get there, Mufasa has long been dead as Simba is already an adult. Much like in the original film and in the musical, Mufasa tells Simba to return to the Pridelands and become the rightful king. James Earl Jones does not provide any new dialouge for Mufasa, but instead archives of Jones's pre-recorded lines from the movie were used. Trivia *In an early script, Mufasa had a bat-ear-fox named Bhati to look after Nala and Simba. *''The Lion King'' directors Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers stated Mufasa or Scar could be Nala's father at a Lion King Tenth Anniversary Panel discussion. Despite this "canon" claim, Nala and Simba would be related and neither Scar nor Mufasa acknowledge Nala as their daughter in the film. *Mufasa's name originates from the name of the last king of the Bagada people, and means "King" in the Manazoto language. Songs *The Morning Report *They Live in You Category:Characters Category:Lions Category:Pridelanders Category:Male Characters Category:Deceased Characters Category:Protagonist